Ashley Dupre's Helping Hand from Russell Simmons

Saviors can come in the most unexpected forms… such as Russell Simmons.

Famous former hooker Ashley Dupre says that she has the Def Jam impresario to thank for turning her life around.

In an exclusive blog on GlobalGrind.com, Dupre says that if she had focused on the negatives after it was revealed in March ’08 that former governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer had paid her for sex, it would have "eaten me alive".

But she says that after meeting Russell at a yoga class — and even getting some "hand placement tips" from him — she has become stronger and finds it "more natural and effortless… to draw positive people and uplifting experiences into my life."

Now, after a rough year, she adds, "I am now 23 years old and I’ve made more mistakes than most people make in a lifetime. But to look back and see all that I have overcome, and to stand here, and actually still be here at all, that is a huge achievement."

She hopes that her next "huge acheivements" will be a book about her experience, as well as a music career.